Drive linkage for swinging doors

ABSTRACT

A drive linkage is provided for connecting a bi-swing door to a pivotable drive spindle offset from the pivot axis of the door on one side thereof. The linkage comprises an L-shaped armature connected at one end to the drive spindle for pivotal movement therewith and at the other end to a fixed guide track member secured to the door and having a guide track extending outwardly from one side thereof. The guide track consists of a pair of guide track legs converging at an apex offset from the spindle and the door. The armature is provided with a roller assembly for constantly and captively engaging the guide track and for movement along the legs thereof toward and away from the apex during full bi-swinging movement of the door to provide powered or manual operation in one direction with controlled powered return and manual operation in the other direction with controlled powered return.

Crocker 1 Apr. 22, 1975 DRIVE LINKAGE FOR SWINGING DOORS [75] Inventor:Samuel Lincoln Crocker,

Farmington, Conn.

[73] Assignee: The Stanley Works. New Britain.

Conn.

22 Filed: Jan. 25, 1974 211 Appl. No.: 436,503

[52] U.S. Cl. 49/326; 49/346; 49/139 [51] Int. Cl E05f 11/00 [58] Fieldof Search 49/326, 346. I39

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 388.965 9/1888 Gorrcll etal. 49/346 3.510.984 5/l970 Kalog et al 49/346 X PrimaryE.\'uminerKenneth Downey Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Prutzman. Hayes, Kalb8L Chilton [57] ABSTRACT A drive linkage is provided for connecting abi-swing door to a pivotable drive spindle offset from the pivot axis ofthe door on one side thereof. The linkage comprises an L-shaped armatureconnected at one end to the drive spindle for pivotal movement therewithand at the other end to a fixed guide track member secured to the doorand having a guide track extending outwardly from one side thereof. Theguide track consists of a pair of guide track legs converging at an apexoffset from the spindle and the door. The armature is provided with aroller assembly for constantly and captively engaging the guide trackand for movement along the legs thereof toward and away from the apexduring full bi-swinging movement of the door to provide powered ormanual operation in one direction with controlled powered return andmanual operation in the other direction with controlled powered return.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEE APR 221975 lll l FIG. 2

DRIVE LINKAGE FOR SWINGING DOORS BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates generally to swinging doors and is moreparticularly concerned with a new and improved drive linkage connectingsuch doors to a pivotable drive spindle offset from the door as insurface mounted applications.

Automatic power-operated doors that swing inwardly during normaloperation are used today in many commercial establishments. These doorsare driven between their normally closed and normally opened positionsby an electromechanical door operator thatmust be capable of permittingmanual opening of the door in an outward direction in the event of anemergency. In order to achieve this outward or reverse opening of thedoor it has been necessary to utilize a door having a biswing capabilityand provide means for effecting emergency release of the door from theoperator. This release has been accomplished by suitable disconneectmechanisms such as the structure described in the Ferguson et al. U.S.Pat. No. 3.2l0.067. Where such disconnect systems have been employed. itis. of course. necessary to reset the mechanism in order to render thepower operator effective once again for performing its normal dooropening and closing functions.

More recently the Kalog et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3.510.984 has described acontrol linkage wherein it is not necessary to disconnect the operatorfrom the door upon reverse movement of the door under an emergencycondition. However. the linkage described in that patent involves acomplex multi-link system wherein the initial opening movement of thedoor is accomplished at about the same speed as the operator.Additionally the system requires the incorporation of a slide trackwithin the body of the door along the top edge thereof thusnecessitating a special door or a substantial modification of anexisting door.

Accordingly. it is an object of the present invention to provide a newand improved drive linkage for swinging doors that obviates thenecessity for disconnecting the operator from the door during reverseopening thereof in either an inward or outward direction whilesimultaneously simplifying the drive linkage connection between the doorand the operator and desirably increasing the initial opening speed ofthe door in order to provide greater initial door clearance in a morerapid manner without changing the speed of the operator.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improveddrive linkage of the type described that is particularly well suited toautomatic poweroperated swinging doors wherein the drive spindle of thepower operator is offset from the pivot axis of the door and the guidetrack extends transversely to the face of the door and outwardlytherefrom permitting easy installation and efficiency of torque transferto the door.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new andimproved linkage of the type described that permits constantinterconnection between the door and the drive spindle therebyeliminating the need for resetting the linkage after reverse opening ofthe door. Included in this object is the provision for increased initialdoor speed and decreased terminal door speed during constant operatorspeed in a normal door opening operation.

A further object is to provide a new and improved drive linkage ofreliable smooth operation and sturdy. durable yet light-weightconstruction that is adapted to rapid and facile installation on a widevariety of existing doors without modification thereof.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out in moredetail hereinafter.

These and related objects are accomplished in accordance with thepresent invention by providing a drive linkage for connecting a bi-swingdoor to a pivotable drive spindle offset from the pivot axis of the dooron one side thereof. The drive linkage comprises an armature connectedat one end to the drive spindle for pivotal movement therewith and afixed guide track member secured to the door and having a guide trackextending outwardly from one side thereof. The guide track consists of apair of guide track legs converging at an apex offset from the spindleand the door. The armature is provided with a track follower on the endthereof opposite said one end for constantly engaging the guide trackand for movement along the legs thereof toward and away from the apexduring full biswinging movement of the door.

A better understanding of the invention will be obtained from thefollowing detailed description and the accompanying drawing which setforth an illustrative embodiment indicative of the way in which theprinciples of the invention are employed.

A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing:

FlG. l is a fragmentary elevational view of the top portion of apower-operated bi-swing door including a drive linkage embodying theeatures of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 illustratingin full line the position of the linkage when the door is in a closedposition and in phantom line the positions of the armature when the dooris in its full open positions:

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 33 of FIG. 2illustrating the interconnection between the track and track follower ofthe drive linkage; and.

FIG. 4 illustrates a modified form ofa track suited for use in thepresent invention.

DESCRlPTlON OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT It will be understood that thepresent invention has equal application to both a normally inwardlyopening door and a normally outwardly opening door. However. for ease ofillustration and clarity of description the invention will be describedprimarily with respect to a normally inwardly opening door.

Referring now to the drawing in greater detail wherein like referencenumerals indicate like parts throughout the several figures. a door 10is shown as mounted within a door frame 12 for bi-swing pivotal movementabout the pivot 14. A suitable power operator (not shown) is mounted onthe header 16 on the door frame 12 and includes a drive spindle l8offset from the pivot 14 of the door but in alignment therewith on oneside of the door. The drive spindle 18 is drivably connected to the doorthrough a drive linkage comprised of an armature 20. a track 22 and atrack follower 24 interconnecting the armature and the track for movingthe door clockwise as viewed in FIG. 2 about the pivot 14 from itsnormally closed position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 toward its normallyopened position.

The elongated. generally L-shaped armature 20 of the drive linkage isconnected to the drive spindle 18 through an upstanding hub member 26.The elongated drive armature 20 is comprised of a short connecting armportion 30 that is interfittably connected to the hub member 26 and asubstantially longer operator arm portion 32 secured to the connectingarm portion 30 by means of a short integral cylindrical spacer 34. Asshown in FIG. 2 the arm portions 30 and 32 are disposed at approximatelya right angle to each other but are disposed within spaced parallelplanes due to the separation provided by the integral spacer 34. Thusthe connecting arm portion 30 is located within a plane above the top ofthe door panel while the operator arm portion 32 of the armature ispositioned within a plane that intersects a portion of the door panel.

As best shown in FIG. 2 the operator spindle l8 and the door pivot 14are aligned within a plane that is generally parallel to the face 36 ofthe door jamb and the hub connecting arm portion of the armature is ofsufficient length relative to the thickness of the door so that as thedoor moves in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2 to the openposition shown in phantom. the elongated operator arm portion 32 of thearmature is pivotably displaced so as not to interfere with the swingingmovement of the door.

The drive linkage also includes a guide track 22 which preferably takesthe form of a solid rod secured to the interior face of the door 10 bythe mounting brackets 38. The track is of V-shaped configuration andincludes a pair of leg portions 40, 42 of substantially equal lengththat are interconnected at an apex 44 so as to be disposed at an angleof about 90 relative to each other. In the embodiment illustrated thelegs of the guide track are provided with mounting extensions 46, 48which are angularly disposed so as to rest against the door 10 and fitwithin the mounting plates 38. Preferably the extensions 46, 48 arecovered with plastic sleeves, such as vinyl sleeves, to permit slightpivotal movement of the track apex 44 in a generally vertical directionthereby permitting adjustment of the linkage to slight variations in theinstallation level or height of the armature 20.

As mentioned, the elongated armature 20 of the drive linkage isinterconnected with the guide track 22 by means of a suitable trackfollower 24 mounted on the end of arm portion 32 opposite the end joinedto the'spacer 34. In the specific embodiment illustrated. the arm 32 isprovided at its end with an aperture 52 fitted with a suitable bearingmember 54 for pivotably connecting the roller assembly 24 thereto bymeans of a threaded pivot pin 56. The roller assembly 24 includes aplate-like roller carriage 58 having a central threaded aperture 60 forthreadably receiving the pivot pin 56 and a pair of longitudinallyspaced apertures 64 on opposite sides of the central aperture 60 forreceiving a pair of roller mounting screws 66. The rollers 68 rotatablysupported by screws 66 are of thimble-like configuration and are eachprovided with a central bushing 70 to permit smoother rolling actionrelative to the retaining and mounting screw 66 secured to the rollercarriage 58. Each retaining screw 66 of the roller assembly is providedwith an enlarged or shouldered head portion 72 that acts against washer74 or similar spacer to maintain the rollers in assembled relationshipon the roller carriage 58. The roller assembly is further provided witha carriage cap 76 having a pair of recesses 78 arranged so as to be inregistry with the enlarged or shouldered head portion 72 of the rollerretaining screws 66 to fully encapsulate the head portion and provide asmooth and neat appearance to the underside of the roller assembly. Asbest shown in FIG. 3 the rollers 68 are spaced so as to receive thetrack 22 between the arcuate centrally grooved surfaces 82 thereof andcaptively engage the track to assure a positive direct drivingengagement therebetween in response to pivotal movement of the powerspindle 18.

As will be appreciated, the drive linkage of the pres ent invention canbe installed easily and quickly by initially mounting the armature 20 onthe drive spindle 18 so that the roller assembly 24 contacts the face ofthe door 10 for properly positioning the guide track 22. Although theguide track may then be mounted directly to the door, it is preferredthat one roller 68 of the roller assembly 24 be removed and the track 22be mounted between the concave surfaces 82 of the assembly in the mannershown in FIG. 3. In this way it can be assured that the track 22 isproperly located relative to the armature 20 with the roller assembly 24positioned at the apex 44 of the track when the door is in itsfully-closed condition. When thus assembled. the drive linkage iseffective to drive the door clockwise as viewed in FIG. 2 through an arcof 90 to a fully open position. As will be appreciated. the poweroperator is also effective to drive the door to its fully closedposition regardless of whether the door is power operated or manuallymoved to its open position in either an inward or outward direction.

As the drive spindle 18 rotates in a clockwise direction as viewed inFIG. 2 it will impart corresponding clockwise movement to the armature20 which in turn will cause the roller assembly 24 to drivably bearagainst the track 22. In view of the fact the drive spindle I8 is offsetfrom the pivot 14 of the door. the roller assembly 24 will tend to movealong the leg of the track 22 toward the door 10 as the door andarmature are moved in a clockwise direction. In this connection it isimportant to note that the drive armature of the present inventionadvantageously provides for initial rapid movement of the door out ofits fully closed position shown in full line in FIG. 2 and substantiallydecreased terminal door speed as it approaches a fully opened conditionwith the drive spindle operating at a constant speed through the entiredoor opening operation. This is particularly advantageous since it isimportant in powenoperated doors to provide rapid initial opening of thedoor coupled with a reduced damping of the doors momentum as itapproaches a fully open condition. In this connection it has been foundthat during the first 10 of clockwise rotation of the drive spindle 18the door 1 0 will open through an arc segment of 13 thereby exhibiting a30% speed advantage through the initial 10 of movement of the operatingspindle. This speed advantage slowly decreases through approximately thefirst of spindle rotation and in fact passes a crossover point atbetween 40 and so that during the last 10 of spindle movement. that is.between and of rotation of the drive spindle. the door 10 moves 207:slower than the drive spindle. Typical values for each ten degrees ofmovement of the spindle during normal operation is set forth infollowing Table l.

but also optimizes the door travel relative to the drive spindle byincreasing the initial opening speed and de- Thus it will be appreciatedthat the drive linkage provides a substantially simplified constructioncoupled with a door speed advantage during the initial portion of dooropening movement and a reduction of door speed as it approaches a fullyopen condition.

It is also an advantageous feature of the present invention that thedrive linkage obviates the need for disconnecting the door from theoperator when it is necessary to move the door in a reverse operateddirection. that is. in a counter clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2from the closed position illustrated therein. This emergency break outfeature permits the door to be moved manually in the reverse opendirection since the roller assembly 24 can pivot about the pivot pin 54mounted on the arm portion 32 when the roller assembly is at the apex 44of the track. Consequently. movement of the door in a counter clockwisedirection as viewed in FIG. 2 will cause the track follower 24 to movealong the leg portion 42 of the track toward the mounting bracket 38without disconnecting the door from the power drive spindle l8.Thereafter door closing can be accomplished by a controlled poweredreturn of the door to its closed position by the door operator.

Referring now to FIG. 4 there is shown an alternative track designwhereby movement of the door in a counter clockwise direction as viewedin FIG. 2 under an emergency condition will cause the roller assembly 24to travel through less than a full 90 are segment during 90 movement ofthe door. The track 86 in FIG. 4 is provided with a first leg portion 88substantially identical to leg 40 of track 22 up to and including theapex 90. The second leg 92 of the track 86 extends substantiallyparallel to the side of the door to provide less resistance to dooropening. As will be appreciated. the door-parallel disposition of leg 92is spaced slightly from apex 90 to assure an accurate closed doorposition during normal operation.

Other track configurations and forms can be utilized to provide thedesired reversed movement of the door without effecting a disconnectionbetween the operator and the door. It will also be appreciated that therollers can be modified to provide sliding contact between the track andtrack follower and that the track could take a form other than thepreferred rod configuration illustrated in the drawing so long as thedesired 180 total door swing is achieved.

As can be appreciated from the foregoing detailed description. the drivelinkage of the present invention not only obviates the need fordisconnecting the operator from the door during reverse movement thereofwhile providing a simplified drive linkage connection creasing theterminating speed without changing the speed of the operatorv Such anarrangement permits an improved smoothness of operation coupled with anefficient torque transfer from the operator to the door and a reducedneed for substantial damping of the door as it approaches its fullyopened condition. Additionally it permits powered and manual operationin one direction with controlled return and manual operation in theother direction with controlled powered return.

As will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art. variousmodifications. adaptations and variations of the foregoing specificdisclosure can be made without departing from the teachings of thepresent invention.

I claim:

1. A drive linkage for connecting a bi-swing door to a pivotable drivespindle offset from the pivot axis of the door on one side thereofcomprising an armature connected at one end to the drive spindle forpivotal movement therewith. a fixed guide track member secured to saiddoor and having a guide track extending outwardly from said one sidethereof. said track having a pair of legs joined at an apex offset fromsaid spindle and said door. said armature having a track follower on theend thereof opposite said one end. said track follower constantlyengaging said guide track for movement along the legs thereof toward andaway from the apex during full bi-swing movement of said door. saidtrack follower being positioned at the apex of the guide track when thedoor is in a closed position.

2. The drive linkage of claim I wherein one leg of said guide trackextends from said door toward said apex at an acute angle to the doorand tangentially of said pivot axis.

3. The drive linkage of claim 1 wherein said follower includes rollermeans captively engaging said track for movement therealong.

4. The drive linkage of claim 1 wherein said armature has an L-shapedconfiguration.

5. A drive linkage for connecting a bi-swing door to a pivotable drivespindle offset from the pivot axis of the door on one side thereofcomprising an armature connected at one end to the drive spindle forpivotal movement therewith. a fixed guide track member secured to saiddoor and having a guide track extending outwardly from said one sidethereof. said track being a rod and having a pair of legs joined at anapex offset from said spindle and said door. said armature having atrack follower on the end thereof opposite said one end. said trackfollower including a pair of rollers engaging said rod for movementalong the legs thereof toward and away from the apex during fullbi-swing movement of said door. said follower being pivotally connectedto said armature for pivotal movement at said apex.

1. A drive linkage for connecting a bi-swing door to a pivotable drivespindle offset from the pivot axis of the door on one side thereofcomprising an armature connected at one end to the drive spindle forpivotal movement therewith, a fixed guide track member secured to saiddoor and having a guide track extending outwardly from said one sidethereof, said track having a pair of legs joined at an apex offset fromsaid spindle and said door, saiD armature having a track follower on theend thereof opposite said one end, said track follower constantlyengaging said guide track for movement along the legs thereof toward andaway from the apex during full bi-swing movement of said door, saidtrack follower being positioned at the apex of the guide track when thedoor is in a closed position.
 1. A drive linkage for connecting abi-swing door to a pivotable drive spindle offset from the pivot axis ofthe door on one side thereof comprising an armature connected at one endto the drive spindle for pivotal movement therewith, a fixed guide trackmember secured to said door and having a guide track extending outwardlyfrom said one side thereof, said track having a pair of legs joined atan apex offset from said spindle and said door, saiD armature having atrack follower on the end thereof opposite said one end, said trackfollower constantly engaging said guide track for movement along thelegs thereof toward and away from the apex during full bi-swing movementof said door, said track follower being positioned at the apex of theguide track when the door is in a closed position.
 2. The drive linkageof claim 1 wherein one leg of said guide track extends from said doortoward said apex at an acute angle to the door and tangentially of saidpivot axis.
 3. The drive linkage of claim 1 wherein said followerincludes roller means captively engaging said track for movementtherealong.
 4. The drive linkage of claim 1 wherein said armature has anL-shaped configuration.